The Trump Administration disclosed on Monday that it has commenced the process of levying tariffs against European countries for illegally subsidizing Airbus. This move is long overdue, and is the end result of 14 years of legal wrangling before the World Trade Organization. The WTO has consistently upheld the contention of the United States that Europe stole half of the global market for jetliners through a multi-decade pattern of subverting trade treaties. Boeing and its now departed domestic competitors were greatly harmed by this practice. European governments have had many years to clean up their act, and instead they have elected to continue predatory trade practices while lying about their behavior. It is past time that concrete steps should be taken to bring them into compliance with their treaty obligations. I have written a commentary for Forbes here.
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